Task 2

Five companies/ studios synergetic to me personally:

Graphic Thought Facility, London:

Graphic Though Facility are my idea of a perfect studio.  

Taking on a multidisciplinary practice that utilises different 

processes and mediums to inject originality and 

maintain an element of fun in their work.

I myself love to create strong visuals, utilising all kinds of 

materials and processes to come up with an original outcome.

One of my main philosophies within my practice it to maintain

interest in what i'm doing.  If i'm not interested how can I 

expect anyone else to be? 


Contact info:

info@graphicthoughtfacility.com
Telephone +44 (0)20 7837 2525
Fax +44 (0)20 3603 8551

Graphic Thought Facility
23–24 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DS

Workroom, Korea (Seoul):

Perfect work.  Everything Workroom produce is 
considered alongside being visually engaging.
This multiculturalism within work is exactly what
I am looking for with regards to my dissertation.

Task 1

Re evaluating my aims:

Thinking once again about my aims for this year I
have come to realise that I have a much clearer
view of what I want to do within my practice.  

However, I have also come to realise that there is
so much I can do with my life past this course
(relating to G.D).  Scary stuff.

so, aims:

List five or more things that you know now, that you 
didn't before the Christmas break:
 - What I want to achieve this year.
 - Who I want to work with in collaborations.
 - How to speak to professionals.
 - Low level coding.
 - No matter how stressed I get, this is what I want 
    to do with my life.


Five specific things you would address differently 
than you did this summer:
 - Contact more studios.
 - Effective research into dissertation content.
 - Travel.
 - Not have a terrible, uninspriring job.
 - Understand more on type: go see some 
    debates, talks.


Five things that would be useful to address:
 - My terrible portfolio of contacts.
 - Grid systems!
 - Critical writing skills- more specifically
    dissertation writing.
 - Self branding congruency.
 - Sketch.  Visualise ideas.

Five things to address as a group:
 - Different methods of contact.
 - Different levels of contact in relation to
    the level of the person / company you
    are trying to contact.
 - Worries and thoughts with regards to 
    post uni life.
 - 

Five things you feel haven't been looked at
in PPD in reference to professionalism:.
 - When should you stop pestering someone,
    is it too far?
 - 
 - When to hand out a business card

Module submission, boards and evaluation

Briefs

Module Submission

Presentation

Brief 1
The Physics House Band:  Music promotion and art direction

Brief 2
Elements: The Evolution of Hip Hop:  Event promotion

Brief 3
SPUR: Creatives of Leeds:  Publishing

Brief 4
ISTD:'Books still...?': Publishing 

Brief 5 
Jukebox, HiFi: Event promotion

Brief 6
The Wardrobe: Blue Mondays:  Event promotion

OUGD301, Design Practice 3

Briefs

Project File, module submission

Presentation

Brief 1
The Physics House Band:  Music promotion and art direction

Brief 2
Elements: The Evolution of Hip- Hop:  Event promotion and art direction.

Brief 3
Spur: creatives of Leeds:  Publishing 

Brief 4 
ISTD, 'Books still...?':  Publishing

Brief 5
Jukebox: HiFi Leeds: Event promotion and Branding 

Brief 6
The Wardrobe: Monday Blues: Event promotion

Another crit: a biggie

Heavy stuff.

There was a lot of constructive criticism.  A lot.

- i need to do so much work.  Copious amounts of
  reflective evaluation and problem solving are going 
  to be in the pipeline for next week.

Networking, follow- ups and emails.

Through a gig in the bar I work at, I got in contact with
a couple of people who seemed like the knew their stuff
with regards to Hip- Hop, bookings & event management.

I got some numbers, spoke to a couple of people- I 
explained the whole concept of Elements and what it is
exactly that we want to achieve. 

A few days later I received a text from one of the people
I was speaking to, outlining his interest in the project
- hoping to be involved in some way.  Dialogue is as 
follows:


We're currently waiting back on an email to get an idea 
of how much involvement he wants within the project.

Me & Yaf are heavily hoping that this contact wants
to take on a large role within the project.  We are both 
quickly realising how much work this whole event will
take, and that it will almost be the death of us if we don't
get some experienced aid.

MEETINGS - economical thinking.

Today I set up a meeting with a nice lady from Footprint
Riso printers in Leeds for Wednesday the 7th November 
late afternoon.  This is a good thing.

Me and Yaf need to make sure we have some preliminary 
designs ready to take so we can get a better understanding
of what we can do with risoprinting, and they can get an
idea of what we're trying to achieve.

                                                 
                                                                    ALL GOOD THINGS.

Crit, 25th

I had a lot of issues I needed clearing up from this crit.

Most of my questions were answered but I was still
left feeling so uncertain.

- I don't know where it's come from or how i'm going
to shake it but I need to get rid of this negative air
surrounding my practice.  I can't help but feel i've 
become shite.  When I know I definitely am not.
A loss of self confidence.

So here is the feedback I got from the questions I
had initially posed to the group:

It was reassuring to know that whoever was critting my 
work had confidence in my abilities & the level of work I 
was producing.  However, this reassurance didn't last long.  
I need to seriously think about what I need to do to sort this.

What i've learned, 'Jukebox'.

From these short bursts of live briefs I am learning how
difficult it is to know how to ask the right questions.
I'm also learning how important it is to ask them quickly.
When you aren't sure what the client wants you need to
find out as soon as possible, especially when you're not 
getting paid- it is distracting me from my graded work.


update:
- that was possible the worst experience with a client I 
have ever had.  It can't be solely their fault so I need to
accept some of the responsibility that it was partially
my fault that it didn't run so smoothly.  I didn't understand
what they were about.  Or what they wanted at all.
I tried to get information out of them but it was futile.
They had an image of what they wanted in their head and 
were not budging.

Got to take some action.

It has come to light that I have no clue of what the creators 

of SPUR want me to do with regards to designing for them.

Initially I was asked to do the branding, layout & identity 

for the magazine, but over time, someone else has designed

the logo and there have been some designs put forward

with regards to posters for the launch night.

All of this has meant serious visual inconsistencies that I 

thought were perhaps beyond my control.  However, 

last night I put it to the founder that we should have a 

meeting to delegate specific roles, and not leave until we

all have complete clarity. 

The problem here is that we are all learning.  No one i'm

working with has ever created a magazine before.  

Especially from nothing.  I haven't either, however,

I have more experience and insight into this side of things.

I've already learned that I need to be much more 

forceful in my approach to pitching ideas.  So today my

plan is to be nothing but.  This meeting will definitely

be successful.

Below is a list of issues I plan on bringing up.  It will

be accompanied by concise folder of visual aid to

avoid confusion, further illustrate my argument.

One to one; Andy.

From my one to one tutorial with Andy i've realised 
that I have been productive with all of my briefs, 
however, at times I have become lost in what it is 
exactly I am supposed to be fulfilling.

For example: 

The brief above is one of my four negotiated briefs.  It 
is an independent publication with a focus on creatives 
within Leeds.  I have come up with a tone that reflects 
what the client wants, they are happy with it.  
However, I have no content, no further concept as I
only know as much as I have been told, and therefore 
cannot progress.  I've now learned that I need to ask the 
the right questions, i.e. a rough table of contents; whether 
they are image or type focused etc.
- i've already requested this information. 
This has highlighted to me that I am inexperienced working
with real clients- i know now to extract as much information 
as possible and think about questions that will help me.

 

Elements.

Elements, final draft. 

This is it.  And I like it.

PPD, 9th Oct.

What I didn't know before the break:
- I am more resilient than I thought.
- Much more independent than before.
- Driven
- Directed:  I know exactly what I want to do.
- I didn't know I could do it.  Now i'm certain I can.

What I'd address differently now against over the summer:
- Create a solid plan of action.
- Knock on studio doors, rather than wait for a reply for forever.
- Get a better job quicker.
- Eat healthier / more consciously.
- Travel.




Things I will address this semester:
- Daily action plan written before bed and amended before leaving in the morning.
- Weekly overall plan completed on Sundays.
- Water: stay hydrated!  - more important than it sounds.
- Sleep.
- Outside design work that isn't necessarily graded.  Keeps things fresh.

Things I feel could be addressed as a group:
- Action plans.  How everyone approaches workload differently.
- Where everyone is at: professionally, and how they got there.
-




Things I feel haven't been looked at in PPD that I want to:

Spur, client meeting one

Chosen layout tone.

Blue Mondays, Flyer for 'The Wardrobe', Leeds.

A  'brief '  brief.

'The Wardrobe' bar & restaurant and live music venue
in Leeds asked me to have a go at designing a flyer for 
their 'Blues, Beers & Burgers' night on Mondays.  The 
turnaround had to be pretty sharpish so I gave myself a 
day to come up with the designs for the flyer.
The process goes as follows:
I already know a lot about my client so felt minimum 
research on what they're all about was necessary.  The
focus is on the music, however, they are trying to 
promote their restaurant to different audiences, in this 
instance (specifically) Leeds College of Music.  The 
students study just across the road from the venue so
are a perfect fit.  Essentially, it's a typically student 
offer with a twist of culture.
A 'Blues Burger.'  - tasty tunes.

From my wants & needs analysis at the beginning of
this year I found that I wanted to address my own 
working practice of image and type together.  Given
the audience, I felt that they would respond most 
successfully to heavy imagery and as little typog-
raphical information as possible.

Negotiated Briefs

These will be the four main briefs I will be focusing 
on the follow up to Christmas.  I have thought hard 
about what kind of project it will be; what I will get 
out of it; and what it the products would look like in 
my portfolio and I feel I have chosen the four that are 
most suited to my needs and wants.

Initial Briefs.

Below are my initial briefs for third year.  I have 
spent time researching and compiling to get a 
definitive list of exactly what I want to do.

Evaluation

Who am I? Self Promotion

We were asked to design a business card (of which i've 

already done hundreds of different variations- of course), 

along with a piece of promotional material that best 

describes us as designers.

My aim is to create something that is ultimately

going to shock everyone.  It needs to obviously 

communicate me as a designer, however, this can

be clarified visually rather than me spelling it 

out for the viewer.

So, the beginnings of:

 

My first job was to try and identify exactly what

should be on my business card and promotional 

item.  As above, I justified my name being most

important within the visual heirarchy of both 

because the design should say exactly what kind 

of designer I am and solutions I produce.

My name and website are close within the heirarchy.

hhhh

Emails / / Correspondence / / Beginnings & Ends

One of the first emails, testing the water. 
Getting known names behind us.
An email to local zine publishers:  Musical Mathematics 
Outlining the aims and message behind the project,
measuring potential interest.

Printers & Publishing

Veenman:

"Veenman is self-willed, a tad cheeky sometimes, but always full of passion, dedication, craftsmanship and… devotion to the customer. Our customers make us who we are. That is what makes our work so enjoyable! One moment we receive a visit from the director of a multinational company donning a three-piece grey suit; next an artist in stained jeans walks in the door. Or the other way round… It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone and are happy to help, because our customers are who make Veenman tick."

My main aim for the future is to enjoy what i'm doing, 
which means i've got to work with people who enjoy what 
they're doing.  I think this is such an important aspect of an 
effective practice.  The way Veeman talk about their company 
speaks volumes about the way it is run and the kind of 
employees that work there.

L.E.E / / Initial Research

Initial Research to be completed before any design work 
is considered.  To be delegated between the two of us 
with discussions on who is more relevant for what role.

So today I got an email...

... a good one.  Which is always nice.

But (yet again) i've been mistaken as a parter within 'Inpress'.
I should get some kind of reward for this bigtime schmoozin'.

So,
after rectifying the problem and establishing myself as an 
independent, extremely hardworking designer - forwarding
my site and such, communication was clear.

And so it goes:

Evolution of Hip Hop, with Yaf B.

Initial Brief:

And here it is....